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Current Students

Policy

As part of the ESE and DSE curricula, students participate in knowledge breadth coursework and activities. The Bredesen Center provides students the opportunity to broaden their skills in energy policy, education, outreach, and science communication through various courses across campus.

Student Engagement

Through local projects and national internships, Bredesen Center students contribute to the policy focus of their communities enabling them to become future leaders and role models in energy science and policy.

Mallory Ladd

Catalyzing Advocacy in Science and Engineering (CASE) Workshop Attendee (2017): This program is designed to educate graduate students interested in learning about the role of science in policy-making process, and to empower them with ways to become a voice for basic research throughout their careers. Students from around the country participate in a 3-day program in Washington, D.C. where they learn from experts about the structure and organization of Congress, the federal budget and appropriations processes, and tools for effective science communication and civic engagement.

Tracey Wellington (Alumni)

House Bill 043

Mark Christian and Victoria DiStefano

Assisted Tennessee legislators in designing and advocating for a bill (link to bill here) that would put into place an Energy Policy Council focused on engaging with stakeholders and enhancing stakeholder communication to create a path forward for Tennessee’s energy production, transportation, and use.

Tracey Wellington (Alumni)

DOE Scholars Summer Internship Program (2013): Provided technical and logistical support for a variety of activities within the Office of Innovative Nuclear Research (NE-42) including the Nuclear Energy University Programs (NEUP), Nuclear Energy Enabling Technologies Crosscutting Technology Development (NEET), and Small Business Innovative Research/Small Business Technology Transfer (SBIR/STTR).

Students in the Bredesen Center urged the Environmental Protection Agency to apply technology-neutral regulations on carbon emissions to all states in order to allow industry to employ a free market approach. A technology-neutral regulation methodology will provide both an accurate picture of the emission goals and the freedom for states to reach these goals in a manner most appropriate for their circumstance. This increased accuracy and freedom is more politically viable and therefore more likely to reach the emission reduction goals initially set forth by the Clean Power Plan. The full text of the student’s comment is available: EPA Clean Power Plan Student Comment

Each year, the Delegation convenes in Washington and formulates a set of policy statements that convey their views on nuclear energy, education, and research. As a part of the 2014 Delegation, students contributed to this statement and met with policymakers on Capitol Hill to deliberate over the subjects they identified as important to energy policy and nuclear engineering education

Christine Ajinjeru, Jayde Aufrecht, Mallory Ladd

PLEN Network Women in Global Policy Workshop: Students learn about foreign policy from leaders who advocate for international security and development, humanitarian issues, and citizens’ rights. During the workshop, participants meet with Congressional leaders, diplomats, State Department officials, staff from international organizations, think tank researchers, and corporate or nonprofit advocates.

Mallory Ladd

Staff Intern with the Science & Technology Innovation Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (2015): Mallory spent eight weeks at the Wilson Center, a think tank located in the Ronald Reagan Building in the heart of Washington, D.C. while working on an independent research project that culminated with a report on policy recommendations for how omics technologies may be used to inform Arctic science policy. Interns attend policy hearings on Capitol Hill and meet with representatives and senators, or their staffers, from relevant committees to assist in their research.

Local Opportunities

Advocacy for Tennessee House Bill

Committee of the Campus Environment and the Office of Sustainability Energy Projects